I really need to eat healthier, help me out!

[Red Squirrel]

I think I've posted this before, I start off well then just stray away. My biggest culprit is just running out of meal ideas, and the fact that I just don't like cooking, it's just a chore. Often I'll make a few half decent home cooked meals but then after I depleted those ideas I just don't know what else to make so end up just eating fast food or ordering pizza or what not.

I try to read up on what foods are good and bad and then try to find ways to incorporate them but it's just hard especially with all the conflicting information out there. Like I read one thing saying greens are good then another saying to avoid them. Or some things say to avoid potatoes while others say they are good. I almost need some kind of meal plan that has recipes that have very low ingredient count, that can be made in large batches and frozen. Basically it would be nice if I could dedicate a day or two per week of cooking, and that meal creates like 10+ batches. If I can cook a meal like that say twice a week, then I will always have a big selection of different meals ready to go in the freezer.

Any cookbooks you could recommend that would be geared towards that kind of cooking? Basically simple meal ideas that can be frozen. I find when I read a cookbook or online recipe it just seems like so much work and effort and does not really make a lot. Half the ingredients I usually don't even know what they are, so it turns into a huge research project. Feels like I'm trying to solve some kind of crime. Looking for something easier. Maybe a specific cookbook recommendation or something.

Also my other weakness which is sorta linked to the fact that I'm lazy to cook is that I tend to only eat one meal per day. That's not very healthy and I need to get out of that habit as it could lead to issues later down the road. I've even heard a trend of eating like 5+ meals per day, but I also don't want to gain a whole bunch of weight, and spend all my time preparing and eating, is there a method to that madness? It sounds like it would be healthy I just don't know how one realistically does it. For now I'd like to at very least move to like 2 meals per day. Lunch and Supper. (I'm never hungry in the morning). Would vegetable juices (made with masticating juicer) count as a meal? Maybe what I can do is get into juicing again and then just use a juice as a meal replacement and then still have a regular meal that day, at least that will bring me back to 2 meals per day and not 1. What about protein shakes? Or both, have a juice and a shake? I only use it when I work out, but would there be a benefit to taking it every day?

I also plan to book an appointment with my doctor for a general check up and blood work. Is there anything else routine I should perhaps also ask them to check while I'm there? Would seeing a nutritinist help, would they actually help with setting up meal plans that cater to it being easy, or are they just going to say "eat more of NN nutrient"? That does not tell me anything, as I don't know what to make, that would have specific nutrients.

I've always kind of followed the everything in moderation mindset, but I want to try to move towards trying to avoid the fast food almost completely. I tend to have fast food or prepared frozen food like for at least half my meals, and that's pretty terrible. I've come to a point where I don't really eat fast food because I crave it but because I just don't know what else to eat. So it's kinda bad and I want to get out of that cycle.

Basically, I just suck at cooking, I need help to get better.

 

[whm1974]

OK with the eating 5 meals a day, you are eating the same amount of food per day, but in smaller portions. Do you have a slow cooker? Buy one they are worth the money.

Buy a larger amount of stuff like brown rice, lentils, Pearled Barley, and split peas. Always keep some garlic and onions around. You can cook those ingredients together for an hour in one pot. Add whatever else you fancy to the pot. This way you will always have something around the house you can eat.

 

[BadTrip]

I like whm1974's idea, but replace slow cooker with Instant Pot. Turn 8 hours to 1.

 

[deadlyapp]

First off, make a list of the foods you like, down to the basic ingredients. Vegetables, meats, carbs, etc. The only way to stay consistent is to use things you like to eat. Once you have that, you can match things together to get simple meals - if you're not very active and don't need many carbohydrates, try to stick to lots of vegetables, moderate amounts of meats, and a good range of healthy fats. Maybe some carbs to round out a dish but you really don't need them unless like I said, you're active (and I don't think you are).

All those recipes you look up can be doubled, tripled, etc if you want to make a big batch - there's no reason you can't do that. But really, the best tool for someone who doesn't like to prep and wants to make significant portions is an oven, a crock pot, and/or an instant pot. You can cook a significant portion of protein at a time for a base in a crock pot, same thing for an oven, or an instant pot.

Anyways, once you get good at prep, it's not that time consuming. I spend about 3-4 hrs on a Sunday making every meal for the week, and I eat 4 prepped meals a day. I put on some good music, or some TV and just get it done.

And in regards to eating more meals throughout the day - it's better for uptake of nutrients, as well as staying satiated longer. Binge eating (which is basically like what it sounds like you're doing) isn't that healthy since your body can't absorb a lot of the nutrients and it all just gets stored as fat.

A nutritionist isn't a bad idea, but since you're so far away from where you need to be, and they'll recommend big changes, you'll probably fail (in all honesty). Start first with just eating more regularly, eating whole foods, and avoiding processed shit.

If you're still too lazy for the above, then suck it up and pay for a meal prep service or buy pre-packaged meals from your local grocer that can just be microwaved. Shit even weight watchers or any of that shit would be better for you.

 

[whm1974]

The above is why I mentioned keeping the grains and legumes around with garlic and onions as a staple. He can eat that as is, or more likely add whatever else he has on hand to the pot.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I do have a crock pot, also recently got an actifry. Issue is not really knowing what to do with it. Actifry I use for fries mostly, I cut potatoes, probably not exactly healthy but it makes a quick side and it beats frozen fries. Crockpot about the only thing I really know how to do is beef stew and that gets old, also got to watch not to eat too much as red meat is not exactly good to overconsume so not like I can have that every day. Can you put chicken in a crockpot? Or will it get too mushy? I think my issue is just not knowing enough recipes and when I try to learn new ones they just look so complicated. Like even the mac and cheese one I found, pretty much have to dedicate a whole day as it's rather involved and it dirties a lot of pans etc. And that's not even really a meal, can't really have that on it's own. I usually just throw in some broccoli but thats probably not enough as far as nutrients go.

I have a rice cooker too, so I tend to make lot of rice as it makes a nice filler, though it's probably not good for me to have that every day as it's a lot of carbs. Or is it ok as long as I have veggies to go with it?

Basically it seems all the things I know how to make are more good for sides/filler and not actual meals. So I need like some kind of "3 ingredient cookbook" or something, needs to be easy. Anything like that exist?

I do plan to see a doc just for a general check up so I guess I should do that to see where I stand then I can concentrate on whatever nutrient I might be low on.

Oh and for the 5 meals per day thing, does it HAVE to be different meals or can you just eat the same thing? That would make things much easier as I don't have to come up with 5 different things to make. Though think for now I will work on simply eating 2 meals. Lunch and Supper. I don't have enough of an appetite to eat more than that. I usually end up snacking on stuff in between anyway if I do get hungry. Like a banana or grapes, or something, or sometimes junk food, but switching out junk food for fruit is an easy thing I can do. Often eat nuts too.

 

[whm1974]

Switch from white rice to brown. Not only is brown much better for you, you can also cook it with other ingredients as well. Brown rice, Pearled Barley, and split peas cook very well together, and you can use that as a base for other dishes. Plus you only need one pot to cook this.

The five meals can be the same thing, or something different each time.

 

[deadlyapp]

If an actifry is what I found on google, then it's an air fryer, and you can use it to cook just about anything. I do chicken, broccoli, brussel sprouts, etc in mine, and the damn user manual comes with pre-set times and temperatures for a whole multitude of foods. Just toss some seasonings on top; garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, basil, oregano, cayenne pepper - it's not rocket science, experiment with it and you'll figure out what tastes good, and seasonings can always be added after the fact.

Crock pot you can also do just about anything, change your cooking time and temperature and you can vary how "done" the food is. I've cooked chicken so it remained mostly solid, and I also cook chicken so that it easily shreds. My simplest chicken recipe are xx amount of chicken, and then enough salsa to cover it. Let it sit for 8 hours on low and then shred the chicken. Boom done. Spice it up by putting chopped onions in. Maybe jalapenos?? Garnish with cilantro?? Simple. If you don't want to go that route, then do the same thing - season however you want, and then put a little chicken broth in the bottom, just enough to give some liquid.

Other meat options in the crock pot - pork tenderloin, pork shoulder (pulled pork), ground beef, ground turkey, etc etc. Spend 10 minutes on google finding about 5-10 different meat recipes and tweak them to make them as simple as you want or need.

I don't understand how mac and cheese would make too many dishes. I've made mac and cheese in my slow cooker a handful of times and it only uses two dishes - one, a large pot to cook the pasta, and two, the crock pot to mix all the cheese and pasta in. But if you're making mac and cheese, then you're not doing health right. Rice is not good to use as a "filler". You should eat rice (and all carbs) sparingly, no more than a cup of it at any given time. Switch from white rice to brown rice, or even use your rice cooker to do quinoa, cous cous, and a variety of other grains that it can cook just perfectly fine.

Your doctor won't be able to tell you what nutrients you're low on unless you have some sort of disastrous iron deficiency. Nutrients are a cloudy science - as long as you eat a good variety of whole foods (including vegetables and fruit), you'll get all the micronutrients you need. Macronutrients are important (fat, carbs, proteins) and you should try to focus on something like a 20%/40%/40% respectively, and get the correct split to meet your daily requirements (which can be easily determined through a macro calculator online - https://healthyeater.com/flexible-dieting-calculator ).

As far as the five meals a day, yes, I usually eat five different meals a day, because otherwise I'd get bored. If you can eat the same thing five times in a day for five days at a time, then more power to you, but I would not recommend it for long term strategy.

Last week:
Breakfast : 6 servings of egg whites, 1 cup of shaved brussel sprouts, ~2 Tbs of guacamole, salt & hot sauce to taste
Lunch : 3oz of chicken breast, 1.5 cup of spaghetti squash, 1 cup of pasta sauce
Pre-workout : 4oz of ground turkey, 3/4cup of brown rice, 1 cup of chopped bell peppers
Workout : 25g whey protein in water
Post-workout : 4oz of chicken, 2 cups of broccoli, 1 cup of brown rice, or chicken & broccoli & cereal with almond milk, or chicken and sourdough toast & broccoli - I mix up my carb source depending on how I feel.

This week:
Breakfast : 6 servings of egg whites, 1 cup of shaved brussel sprouts, ~2 Tbs of guacamole, salt & hot sauce to taste
Lunch : 4oz of lean ground beef, 1 cup of broccoli/cauliflower, 1 cup of pasta sauce
Pre-workout : 3oz of chicken breast, 1 cup of pearl cous cous, 1 cup of broccoli/carrot/peas - cooked in soy sauce & garlic
Workout & post-workout are the same.


Stop having junk food for snacks. Vary your snacks and PORTION THEM. If you have an entire bag of nuts, or a bag of sliced apples, or whatever it is, and you start snacking, you'll end up not realizing how much you've had.
Snack ideas:
1 oz mixed nuts
vegetables & greek yogurt (even add ranch seasoning to greek yogurt!)
PORTIONED fruit - fruit is no better than junk foods in terms of sugar and carbohydrates and you can definitely over-eat on fruit
1 oz of sliced cheese
PORTIONED popcorn - non-buttered!
Rice cakes - with a PORTION of peanut butter
and the list goes on and on.

Anyways, take a picture of what your typical meals look like in a day and post them. Then we can really figure out how to help you. Spend one day, or two, or three, and actually KEEP TRACK of what you're eating - once you do that, you can add it up afterwards and see how fucked your diet might actually be.

 

[Red Squirrel]

That's a lot of eating per day, don't think I could do that, but I'll concentrate on trying to just get ideas at this point and then I can do 2 meals per day, maybe 3. So do you eat the same thing every day in a given week? Maybe that would make things easier for me if I just eat the same things. I don't know why but I always had the impression you don't want to eat the same thing in a given week, but now that I think of if I end up just ordering something, so that's not any better.

Basically off the top of my head this is some of the things I usually make:

- Spaghetti (sometimes with sausage or meat balls in it but not always)
- Rice mixed with vegetables, or chicken, or salmon, basically I just find something to throw in there and mix in it. Sometimes I may even eat it on it's own. I usually mix in it with some kind of sauce, don't really have a specific goto.
- Beef stew: Usually beef, carrots, salsa, and beef stock. Sometimes throw in other stuff like corn.
- Sit fry: kinda same idea as the stew I tend to just throw in random vegetables in there. Usually I just buy the "stir fry" vegetable mixes that are frozen, then throw in pieces of chicken. Sometimes put in some green peppers too. Meat is expensive though, so the trick is trying to find non meat products to eat on the other days. If I ate it every day I'd go broke.
- Bagels or toast, but that tends to not really be enough so that's more of a snack
- Canned beans
- Nachos (just fairly basic, add cheese and salsa and microwave it)
- Hard boiled eggs, sometimes with hashbrowns, or rice. I don't tend to do bacon and eggs I find it's too messy and hard to clean the pan from the eggs and easier to just order it from a restaurant (not fast food place) if I crave it. There's so much debate as to whether or not you eat the yellow or not, I just eat the whole thing. I can't imagine doing 6 in a day though, even just the whites. I'll usually eat 2 in a sitting.

Sometimes I'll mix and match other stuff like steamed vegetables with rice instead of chicken. I don't do meat every day, as it's expensive. I'm not a huge meat eater in general but chicken and fish is my goto.

Probably some stuff I'm forgetting. Rest is pretty much prepackaged foods like chicken strips or whatever that you just throw in the oven.

When you say portioned what do you mean, like 1 cup? I usually just throw a bunch of stuff in a bowl, whether it's fruit, or nuts or whatever. I used to eat lot of chips but mostly replaced it with stuff like nuts and fruit. Sometimes even just eat carrots raw, well usually 1-2 does it for me if it's whole carrots but baby carrots I'll end up eating more. Basically stuff that I can munch on while at the computer at work or watching TV.

Come to think of it, can a decently healthy snack just act as a meal? My trend has been to eat a late lunch and then snack some time at night, but it's not always junk food, it's often fruit etc. So maybe it's not as bad as I figure, if I can bring myself to eat 2 proper sit down meals and then a healthy snack later then that will maybe sorta count as 3 meals?

 

[whm1974]

As far as the five meals a day, yes, I usually eat five different meals a day, because otherwise I'd get bored. If you can eat the same thing five times in a day for five days at a time, then more power to you, but I would not recommend it for long term strategy.

The grains and legumes I mentioned in several of post already are cheap and easy to fix, and can be used as base for many other dishes. I brought a large can of beef last year on impulse, and decided to cook it with brown rice and barley. That was enough for two days.

 

[Crono]

There's nothing wrong with having less formal meals if you are "grazing" on healthy snacks throughout the day. It's better for your blood sugar and metabolism, anyway.

On the cooking front, it's easier to do if you make it fun. I listen to podcasts and music while cooking, try new recipes and ingredients, periodically get new equipment (just got a infrared thermometer, yay), play around with different spice combinations, analyze nutrition data (okay, maybe only fun for me), and make more desserts on the weekend to change things up and as a treat.

As far as what's healthy, it's headlines that tend to do the flip-flopping. Taking actual studies in context and as a whole, moderation still is the key to health, and eating more unprocessed foods (especially higher volume of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and legumes) is still as sound as can be. This is why the Mediterranean diet is usually the top or one of the top recommended non-fad diets, and it's backed by plenty of research.

Greens aren't unhealthy (quite the opposite), just don't eat 10 cups of kale or spinach a day, every day (unless you want a kidney stone). Vary them, eat other vegetables and fruit, too. Same for potatoes. Potatoes are healthy, but don't eat them every meal, every day. Sounds obvious, but people tend to make the mistake of doing too much of a good thing.

 

[Crono]

PORTIONED fruit - fruit is no better than junk foods in terms of sugar and carbohydrates and you can definitely over-eat on fruit

I have to disagree with this. Fruit has fiber as well as vitamins and minerals and high water content. It's extremely difficult to overeat fruit, you get full and bloated long before the equivalent calories or sugar of junk food. Also the body does respond differently to processed (e.g. table sugar or corn syrup) sugars versus naturally occurring sugar. The "sugar is sugar" argument that pro HFCS were using a few years ago has long since been debunked.

Not that I advocate it, but you would think all fruitatarians would have type II diabetes, obesity, and other health issues if what you are saying is true.

 

[whm1974]

I have to disagree with this. Fruit has fiber as well as vitamins and minerals and high water content. It's extremely difficult to overeat fruit, you get full and bloated long before the equivalent calories or sugar of junk food. Also the body does respond differently to processed (e.g. table sugar or corn syrup) sugars versus naturally occurring sugar. The "sugar is sugar" argument that pro HFCS were using a few years ago has long since been debunked.

Not that I advocate it, but you would think all fruitatarians would have type II diabetes, obesity, and other health issues if what you are saying is true.

I rather eat the whole fruit instead of drinking just the juice for this reason. Plus many fruit juices have extra sugar added to them as well.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I have to disagree with this. Fruit has fiber as well as vitamins and minerals and high water content. It's extremely difficult to overeat fruit, you get full and bloated long before the equivalent calories or sugar of junk food. Also the body does respond differently to processed (e.g. table sugar or corn syrup) sugars versus naturally occurring sugar. The "sugar is sugar" argument that pro HFCS were using a few years ago has long since been debunked.

Not that I advocate it, but you would think all fruitatarians would have type II diabetes, obesity, and other health issues if what you are saying is true.

This seems to be one of those things (like eating egg yellows) that is really controversial and no one seems to know 100%. But that's how I understand it too, because it has fibre the body won't absorb the sugar as fast, and it's natural sugar and not refined so not as bad as say, eating cake or drinking pop. Drinking anything with sugar is worse, think even fruit juice is not a good idea. Which is too bad since I bought a juicer with that intention only to realize it was actually a bad idea. But as far as eating raw fruit, I'll eat like half a bunch of grapes in one sitting at times. Or an entire container of blueberries. Or several bananas. I eat a lot of bananas actually, I find they are a very convenient snack food. Oddly enough as I get older I don't actually crave the junk food as much. While I DO have it, it's not as often. MAYBE a few times a week. Usually if I buy chips then I may eat some for a few days in a row to finish the bag. But I can easily start to cut that out and just replace with fruit and nuts. Basically things I can throw in a bowl and munch on.

I forgot to mention that part actually, I have a juicer. I need to start using it more too so I'm open to ideas. I kind of want to find a "super juice" and then just make the same one, if it taste half decent. I could maybe use that as a meal? If I juice say, carrots, beats and apples together is that going to make for a good healthy drink? Also how bad are juiced carrots for me, I know they have lot of sugar but is it still ok to juice it because of all the nutrients especially if I mix with other stuff? One thing I could probably use more of is carotene. I have psoriasis, I also noticed my hair is starting to thin out, it feels too young for it to be old age hair loss, so that's what brought me into a spiral making me realize my eating is not that great. I also have some prescription stuff I use on the psoriasis so that might be affecting my hair too, but idealy if I can beat it through healthy eating then I won't have to use the stuff anymore. I did manage to get rid of one big patch and it's gone now. So I know I can get rid of it, just need to work on it.

But yeah more I think about it, I think this is just something I need to work on harder and just stop being lazy. I need to make a proper list of any meal idea that I hear about and that way I can just pick one and then spend all day cooking a big batch of it. I'm open to more ideas or even specific cook books too. The more meal ideas I can have in my portfolio, so to speak, the better. Easy small ingredient things.

As far as greens, how much is too much? I definitely don't want kidney stones but everything I read also says they are packed with nutrients so I would like to add as many as I can in my diet. Broccoli and peas are probably the easiest, and I like the fact that I could even grow that myself if I wanted to. In the far future I want to actually look at more sustainable eating as well, ex: growing more of my stuff, and eating less meat. But for now one step at a time, I just need to eat healthier and find more meal ideas first.

 

[whm1974]

OK I have long thought that just eating the egg whites and throwing the yolk is a pretty dumb thing to do as the yolk is the best part of the egg. A two egg w/ cheese sandwich on whole grain bread will fill you up for a while. Granted I wouldn't eat that for every meal, but eggs are still a healthy part of the diet.

 

[deadlyapp]

I have to disagree with this. Fruit has fiber as well as vitamins and minerals and high water content. It's extremely difficult to overeat fruit, you get full and bloated long before the equivalent calories or sugar of junk food. Also the body does respond differently to processed (e.g. table sugar or corn syrup) sugars versus naturally occurring sugar. The "sugar is sugar" argument that pro HFCS were using a few years ago has long since been debunked.

Not that I advocate it, but you would think all fruitatarians would have type II diabetes, obesity, and other health issues if what you are saying is true.

I mean, I fully agree with you - it would be very difficult to get a significant amount of sugars and carbohydrates if you ate pure fruit, but people saying that fruit is the answer and not moderating it is just as bad. I could easily eat a package of dried mangoes (without added sugar) and consume about 200-300g of carbohydrates over the course of a day. If you stick to whole fruits, then yes it would be harder. And yes, there are other things to think about with fruits vs refined fruits (eg juices) or other refined sugars, but still, moderation of fruit (depending on the fruit) is important.

OK I have long thought that just eating the egg whites and throwing the yolk is a pretty dumb thing to do as the yolk is the best part of the egg. A two egg w/ cheese sandwich on whole grain bread will fill you up for a while. Granted I wouldn't eat that for every meal, but eggs are still a healthy part of the diet.

20 years ago the blanket arguement was "eggs are bad, don't eat eggs", and then it changed to "egg yolks are bad, don't eat egg yolks" and finally we've gotten to a point where science and research has realized that egg yolks are not the end of the world as we know it, because not all cholesterol is bad cholesterol and indeed there's enough other shit going on that cholesterol may not be as big of an indicator to heart health as originally envisioned.

Honestly, the key for health is to eat in moderation. Don't swing to the extremes and you'll be perfectly fine. There's plenty of other things that will kill us.

 

[Crono]

I mean, I fully agree with you - it would be very difficult to get a significant amount of sugars and carbohydrates if you ate pure fruit, but people saying that fruit is the answer and not moderating it is just as bad. I could easily eat a package of dried mangoes (without added sugar) and consume about 200-300g of carbohydrates over the course of a day. If you stick to whole fruits, then yes it would be harder. And yes, there are other things to think about with fruits vs refined fruits (eg juices) or other refined sugars, but still, moderation of fruit (depending on the fruit) is important.

Have you actually eaten a significant amount of dried fruit in one sitting, like your example of dried mangoes? I have. It not something you do again afterwards. So much stomach pain.

And no, it's not "just as bad", it's just as bad in theory only. Try overindulging on fruit. It's really not possible under most normal circumstances, not without processing it (and dehydration is a type of processing), and even then it's self-limiting. It's way easier to not have enough vitamins and minerals in your diet - many of which go a long way toward preventing hypertension and other chronic diseases - than it is to overeat fruit. If you personally know of anyone who overeats fruit and is obese or has chronic disease because of it, I'd love to hear about it.

The only problem with "moderation" in regards to fruit and vegetables is it needs defining if you are coming from a baseline of processed and fast food. People seem to think a little tiny salad or a fruit cup balances out all the other unhealthy food they eat, and then wonder why they aren't losing weight or getting healthier. It takes a lot more volume and a much higher percentage of your diet than that. I think warning people of the dangers of overeating fruit does more harm than good. It's just not a real problem.

 

[Crono]

This seems to be one of those things (like eating egg yellows) that is really controversial and no one seems to know 100%. But that's how I understand it too, because it has fibre the body won't absorb the sugar as fast, and it's natural sugar and not refined so not as bad as say, eating cake or drinking pop. Drinking anything with sugar is worse, think even fruit juice is not a good idea. Which is too bad since I bought a juicer with that intention only to realize it was actually a bad idea. But as far as eating raw fruit, I'll eat like half a bunch of grapes in one sitting at times. Or an entire container of blueberries. Or several bananas. I eat a lot of bananas actually, I find they are a very convenient snack food. Oddly enough as I get older I don't actually crave the junk food as much. While I DO have it, it's not as often. MAYBE a few times a week. Usually if I buy chips then I may eat some for a few days in a row to finish the bag. But I can easily start to cut that out and just replace with fruit and nuts. Basically things I can throw in a bowl and munch on.

In general, the closer you get to unprocessed (except for some foods which do require cooking, but fruit generally isn't in that category) the better it for you and the less likely you are to overconsume nutrients or calories. So whole fruit > juice via blender > juice via juicer (no pulp) > store bought filtered juice > store bought "juice" ( from concentrate/added sugar). Which isn't to say you can't use a juicer, it's just lacking in the fiber and some of the nutrient content of whole fruit or blended fruit. If you are one of those purists who think you need to be using the absolute healthiest option 100% of the time otherwise it's junk food, then yes, a juicer was a waste. Those types of people are usually massive hypocrites, though. I have a juicer (also great for making nut butters) and use it regularly because I get plenty of fiber from my meals, and sometimes even more fiber than I'd like, so I see no problem juicing for the occasional meal replacement or in-between meals.

I forgot to mention that part actually, I have a juicer. I need to start using it more too so I'm open to ideas. I kind of want to find a "super juice" and then just make the same one, if it taste half decent. I could maybe use that as a meal? If I juice say, carrots, beats and apples together is that going to make for a good healthy drink? Also how bad are juiced carrots for me, I know they have lot of sugar but is it still ok to juice it because of all the nutrients especially if I mix with other stuff? One thing I could probably use more of is carotene. I have psoriasis, I also noticed my hair is starting to thin out, it feels too young for it to be old age hair loss, so that's what brought me into a spiral making me realize my eating is not that great. I also have some prescription stuff I use on the psoriasis so that might be affecting my hair too, but idealy if I can beat it through healthy eating then I won't have to use the stuff anymore. I did manage to get rid of one big patch and it's gone now. So I know I can get rid of it, just need to work on it.

Beets make a good base, but you do have to be a little careful with beets. Don't be scared off by them (plenty of health reasons to use them, especially for vasodilation and improved circulation) just vary what you juice. Apples are the easiest and cheapest, and granny smith can keep up to a year in the fridge, so they are a perfect "staple" fruit to juice. Carrots are one of my favorite things to juice. I love carrot juice. It has sugar, but not an excessive amount (one of the commercial producers of carrot juice, Bolthouse Farms, list their juice at 13g/8 fl oz serving) and is a potent source of vitamin A in the form of beta carotene. I don't know if it would help with psoriasis (vitamin D supplementation would probably help with that specifically, if you aren't doing that already), but increasing your diet with more anti-inflammatory fruits, vegetables, spices, etc isn't likely to hurt and could help significantly. But that's not a guarantee, like you said it could be other factors like your medication affecting the hair loss.

If you want ideas of what to juice, there are plenty of sites with recipes - google turns up this one which has some ones I like, as an example. I have a little book with juice recipes, and there are dozens of similar juice and smoothie books for sale online. It's fun to try out different combinations - I recommend starting out with a "rainbow" week where you do a different color a day. It's a fun and energizing way to start your day.

As far as greens, how much is too much? I definitely don't want kidney stones but everything I read also says they are packed with nutrients so I would like to add as many as I can in my diet. Broccoli and peas are probably the easiest, and I like the fact that I could even grow that myself if I wanted to. In the far future I want to actually look at more sustainable eating as well, ex: growing more of my stuff, and eating less meat. But for now one step at a time, I just need to eat healthier and find more meal ideas first.

Eating greens isn't too much of an issue. But if you'll be juicing them, try and vary what greens you use, or work smaller quantities of greens into smoothies. Even if you are eating a lot of greens and not juicing, there's plenty of variety and slightly different benefits for each, so try collard greens, mustard greens, watercress, swiss chard, etc as well as herbaceous plants. You'll lessen the risk if you stay hydrated, which is a good idea anyway since it's not just people drinking kale juice all the time that can get kidney stones.

EDIT: and yes, seeing a nutritionist could help a lot with meal planning and the like.

 

[purbeast0]

I'm eating a pretty low carb (net carb) diet right now. My lunches pretty much every day are these little chicken salad burritos that I make on a low carb tortilla that has 5g net carbs. I make like 4lbs of chicken salad pretty much every 4-5 days and eat 2 of these burritos at work, spread out so I'm never starving The chicken salad has like no carbs in it either.

Dinners are typically either pork loin chops that I cook for like 3 minutes on the skillet or I'll bake some chicken with sriracha pasted on and some other spices for like 70 minutes. Both are very minimal effort but obviously one takes way longer. Then I'll either cook asparagus on the skillet for 5 minutes or I'll make some broccoli and cheddar which also takes like 5 minutes.

Sometimes I'll eat out at chinese places and get lettuce wraps which are low carbs, or at a BBQ place and just get some BBQ (no sauce) and green beans. I've also eaten at places similar to chipotle but for mediteranian food and just make a low carb meal and put lettuce in instead of grains. I also eat out at Chopt which is like a chipotle but for salads, and it's easy to get a filling salad with meat and eggs that has under 10g of carbs.

Welp that's all I got.

 

[whm1974]

I'm eating a pretty low carb (net carb) diet right now. My lunches pretty much every day are these little chicken salad burritos that I make on a low carb tortilla that has 5g net carbs. I make like 4lbs of chicken salad pretty much every 4-5 days and eat 2 of these burritos at work, spread out so I'm never starving The chicken salad has like no carbs in it either.

Dinners are typically either pork loin chops that I cook for like 3 minutes on the skillet or I'll bake some chicken with sriracha pasted on and some other spices for like 70 minutes. Both are very minimal effort but obviously one takes way longer. Then I'll either cook asparagus on the skillet for 5 minutes or I'll make some broccoli and cheddar which also takes like 5 minutes.

Sometimes I'll eat out at chinese places and get lettuce wraps which are low carbs, or at a BBQ place and just get some BBQ (no sauce) and green beans. I've also eaten at places similar to chipotle but for mediteranian food and just make a low carb meal and put lettuce in instead of grains. I also eat out at Chopt which is like a chipotle but for salads, and it's easy to get a filling salad with meat and eggs that has under 10g of carbs.

Welp that's all I got.

Well I think this zero or low carbs diet fad has gotten out of hand. I for one eat plenty of carbs along with proteins and fats/oils and I'm not anywhere near overweight.

Just stay away from the highly refined carbs and you will be fine.

 

[purbeast0]

Well I think this zero or low carbs diet fad has gotten out of hand. I for one eat plenty of carbs along with proteins and fats/oils and I'm not anywhere near overweight.

Just stay away from the highly refined carbs and you will be fine.

Not sure what you mean by being a fad. It works and has always worked since before atkins became a thing so it's been around and working so it's been around way too long to be a fad.

I'm nearly obese if you want to go by dumb ass BMI, but I can assure you that nobody on the planet would look at me and think I'm even remotely fat. Sure I have some fat but I'm not a fat person. I'm built like a line backer but just trying to cut up for a couple of months and I've done this before, and it does work. Fad not found. You just have to stick with it.

 

[whm1974]

Not sure what you mean by being a fad. It works and has always worked since before atkins became a thing so it's been around and working so it's been around way too long to be a fad.

I'm nearly obese if you want to go by dumb ass BMI, but I can assure you that nobody on the planet would look at me and think I'm even remotely fat. Sure I have some fat but I'm not a fat person. I'm built like a line backer but just trying to cut up for a couple of months and I've done this before, and it does work. Fad not found. You just have to stick with it.

http://thenutritionpress.com/low-carb-diet-friend-fad/
http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/low_carb.html

 

[purbeast0]

Not sure what your point is posting an article from 2015 and 2004 without any commentary. Is it because it has fad in the URL that you think that validates your point?

 

[whm1974]

Not sure what your point is posting an article from 2015 and 2004 without any commentary. Is it because it has fad in the URL that you think that validates your point?

From Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/low-carb-diet/art-20045831?pg=2

Risks

If you suddenly and drastically cut carbs, you may experience a variety of temporary health effects, including:

Headache
Bad breath
Weakness
Muscle cramps
Fatigue
Skin rash
Constipation or diarrhea

In addition, some diets restrict carbohydrate intake so much that in the long term they can result in vitamin or mineral deficiencies, bone loss and gastrointestinal disturbances and may increase risks of various chronic diseases.

Because low-carb diets may not provide necessary nutrients, these diets aren't recommended as a method of weight loss for preteens and high schoolers. Their growing bodies need the nutrients found in whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

Severely restricting carbohydrates to less than 0.7 ounces (20 grams) a day can result in a process called ketosis. Ketosis occurs when you don't have enough sugar (glucose) for energy, so your body breaks down stored fat, causing ketones to build up in your body. Side effects from ketosis can include nausea, headache, mental and physical fatigue, and bad breath.

It's not clear what kind of possible long-term health risks a low-carb diet may pose because most research studies have lasted less than a year. Some health experts believe that if you eat large amounts of fat and protein from animal sources, your risk of heart disease or certain cancers may actually increase.

If you follow a low-carbohydrate diet that's higher in fat and possibly higher in protein, it's important to choose foods with healthy unsaturated fats and healthy proteins. Limit foods containing saturated and trans fats, such as meat, high-fat dairy products, and processed crackers and pastries.

 

[deadlyapp]

Have you actually eaten a significant amount of dried fruit in one sitting, like your example of dried mangoes? I have. It not something you do again afterwards. So much stomach pain.

And no, it's not "just as bad", it's just as bad in theory only. Try overindulging on fruit. It's really not possible under most normal circumstances, not without processing it (and dehydration is a type of processing), and even then it's self-limiting. It's way easier to not have enough vitamins and minerals in your diet - many of which go a long way toward preventing hypertension and other chronic diseases - than it is to overeat fruit. If you personally know of anyone who overeats fruit and is obese or has chronic disease because of it, I'd love to hear about it.

The only problem with "moderation" in regards to fruit and vegetables is it needs defining if you are coming from a baseline of processed and fast food. People seem to think a little tiny salad or a fruit cup balances out all the other unhealthy food they eat, and then wonder why they aren't losing weight or getting healthier. It takes a lot more volume and a much higher percentage of your diet than that. I think warning people of the dangers of overeating fruit does more harm than good. It's just not a real problem.

I have definitely eaten an entire package of dried mangoes, and will likely do it again. Maybe I have an iron digestion system